To the smokers I work with, please do yourselves and patients a favor by brushing your teeth after smoking. the smell of smoke makes me gag, and I feel sorry for your already nauseated patients.
To the supervisor that baths in his cologne... don't. it smells horrible.
To the nurse with the huge blond hair. it looks like a bomb was set off in your hair. did you use a whole bottle of stiff on it? and you may want to wear better fitting scrubs, I'm curvy as well, but I don't like to show my curves at work.
Yes, I do like to wear make up and manicured nails( no chipping, or fakes nails) to work everyday. not only does it make me feel good but patients notice as well. looks are first impressions, and I like to make a good one.
To the OP... you know, I get what you are saying, I really do, and I actually respect it. I do feel like we as nurses want to be thought of as professionals, we fight for it every day, and when someone shows up to work wearing dirty, wrinkled scrubs, hair looking like an absolute rat's nest.. smelling bad... it does in a way undermine our efforts to make people respect our profession as a whole.
One does of course, have to remember what a grueling, physical job Nursing can be, so if our scrubs are dirty, our hair is a mess, and we smell bad at the END of the day, or heck, even by the middle of the day... who can fault us?
I think the things in your post that bother other people in this thread, are, I'm guessing.. the part that insinuates that nurses must wear at least a little makeup, and then I think your post has an overall air of "looks are THE most important thing!", especially towards the end.
At the end of the day or the middle of the is one thing, but when you begin your day smelling like you just ended your day, well there's a problem.
To the smokers I work with, please do yourselves and patients a favor by brushing your teeth after smoking. the smell of smoke makes me gag, and I feel sorry for your already nauseated patients.
To the supervisor that baths in his cologne... don't. it smells horrible.
To the nurse with the huge blond hair. it looks like a bomb was set off in your hair. did you use a whole bottle of stiff on it? and you may want to wear better fitting scrubs, I'm curvy as well, but I don't like to show my curves at work.
Yes, I do like to wear make up and manicured nails( no chipping, or fakes nails) to work everyday. not only does it make me feel good but patients notice as well. looks are first impressions, and I like to make a good one.
so the smoking issue has been discussed to death. I agree with you on the cologne issue--I was in an elevator with a lady who had on perfume, hairspray and something else with a strong scent...made me feel pretty ill.
as for the hair...if this nurse wants to spend an hour (or however long in takes her) each morning just on her hair, then that is her issue...perhaps she thinks it makes a good first impression.
regarding the nails....wth? am I a bad nurse since I don't have manicured nails? do my pt's feel bad since my nails are not perfect? (they would probably be more scared if I came in with 'made up' nails.) to each their own I guess.
The replies have all been pretty respectful thus far! (suprised look)
I personally think the focus of healthcare should be to the patient, first and foremost. Don't roll out of bed, but don't spend so much time on your looks that you sacrifice in giving time to your patient. I
f you spend that much time in the morning getting yourself "Made up pretty", chances are you are spending time at work with a hand mirror or what-have-you trying to maintain the look.
So...if you are only byhis grace you are proclaiming yourself a Christian. Yet here you are bashing other people. That is not very Christian. I'm glad you're so perfect and everyone else isnt. Careful lest ye fall...you know pride goeth before one and all.
I teach CNA's and have a very strict dress code. One of the issues you are discussing is fingernails. I was at our local hospital last year when JACHO was inspecting. They actually took out a ruler and measured the length of the fingernails of some of the staff. This is an infection control issue! So is hair that is "unrestrained". Pants dragging on the floor are another thing the state inspectors will ding our facility for. I agree with the OP, we should present a professional image. Even if you don't ever wear make up, that's your preference. But coming in looking like you are hung over, or smelling like you just left a bar, is another issue.
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
OP, I do understand what you mean. As professionals, we SHOULD try to look polished. Everyone has their own sense of what looks professional and what doesn't-a lot of it depends on how you were raised, or what's going on upstairs-a very depressed nurse that I work with doesn't adhere to regular housekeeping duties on the homefront. She comes into work smelling like a litter box because she lets her cats pee all over the floor-where she dumps her freshly washed clothes to "fold some other time". Her depression has made her feel helpless and hopeless regarding her appearance, so she has a "what's it gonna matter" attitude. I know some nurses who won't step out of their house without makeup, a button down shirt and pressed slacks on. I know others who think that it's perfectly fine to skip an appointment with their shower in the morning. I had to have a heart to heart conversation with one nurse who had really offensive BO, and she told me that her boyfriend LOVES the way her natural smell radiates from her...so I had to let her know that her pt's didn't share the same sentiments, and that she should shower during the work week so we ALL didn't have to deal with the 'radiation'.
The best thing that you can do to encourage your co-workers to look professional is to look professional yourself. Don't judge them, don't admonish them, but continue to set an example. Be aware of your facial expressions and your body language. Be positive with the nurses that you encounter who don't seem to look professional. Negativity will only make them defensive.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
you know, when i was working and going through chemo, there were plenty of days i went in to work wearing no makeup. heck, i didn't even take the time to draw on my eyebrows. sometimes my scrubs were a little wrinkled; clean, but wrinkled. so, maybe i didn't look my best, but i did give my patients my best.
we may not know our co-worker's personal circumstances. really, that doesn't even matter. what matters is that they are competent and do their job well. if a co-worker isn't wearing makeup, even though you think she'd look better with a touch of lip gloss and blush, who cares? is she good at what she does? does she have your back? make sure you know what's really important about your colleagues.
I don't think makeup is really the issue for me anyway. But if a nurse came to my bedside to care for and she was smelling bad, bad bo and her her clothes looked really messing had spots all over them. I mean just looked a hot mess, my mind is going to wonder how clean is this person who is fixin to give me and injection, put some meds in my IV. I would be to comfortable with that. A clean professional appearance goes a log way, especially in patient care.
Nurse Fee Fee
39 Posts
At the end of the day or the middle of the is one thing, but when you begin your day smelling like you just ended your day, well there's a problem.